19 May 2026 By Hlaing
SHWEBO, Myanmar — Anti-junta resistance forces have captured a crucial police station in the town of Saing Pyin, Sagaing Region, scoring a significant victory along a key highway network in northern Myanmar, military commanders announced late Monday.
The No. 1 Shwebo District Military Command confirmed that its forces completed the total seizure of the Saing Pyin police outpost at 9:00 AM on Saturday, 16 May, following a coordinated preemptive assault launched under a regional offensive codenamed “Operation OTT.”
Resistance leadership stated that the offensive was triggered after receiving credible intelligence indicating that junta forces inside Shwebo district were reinforcing outposts with heavy weaponry, manpower, and combat drones ahead of a planned crackdown on local populations.
The assault began on 14 May, with a precision strike team of 60 resistance fighters taking the garrison by surprise. After nearly 48 hours of intense close-quarters fighting and heavy local property damage, the stronghold was completely overrun.
“Saing Pyin may be a small town, but it possesses all urban administrative characteristics and serves as a vital transit point,” a local resident told MPA. “For a long time, civilians had to carefully bypass this heavily armed station just to go about their daily lives. Now, that obstacle has finally been cleared.”
The regional command reported that 11 junta personnel were killed during the clashes, and a substantial cache of small arms and ammunition was recovered from the site.
In a notable development, the district command revealed that the station’s chief, Police Lieutenant Win Zarni Aung, abandoned his post during the final hours of the siege. According to the resistance statement, the commander fled the area alone, irresponsibly deserting his wounded personnel as well as his own family—including his wife and a five-year-old child—who were trapped inside the living quarters.
The loss of the outpost triggered immediate, severe retaliation from the military regime. Local sources reported that junta fighter jets conducted multiple waves of intense bombardment on the outer perimeter of Saing Pyin during the battle, striking the area four to five times per sortie to halt the guerrilla advance.
The Saing Pyin station occupies a highly strategic position, sitting directly on the primary Monywa-Budalin-Ye-U-Depayin highway corridor. Previous attempts by local civilian defense forces to seize the garrison in November 2023 had been repelled by heavy junta air support.
While the resistance celebrates the capture, regional security networks have issued urgent warnings to nearby communities.
A heavy military column dispatched from the Northwestern Military Command (Na-Ma-Kha) in Monywa has reportedly been pushing through villages in southern Budalin since 16 May. Resistance analysts warn that this heavily reinforced column is likely moving to launch a counter-offensive to retake the lost highway corridor, putting the newly liberated towns of Depayin, Ye-U, and Saing Pyin directly back in the crosshairs.
